MOANA IMPACT STUDIO

Centering Culture. Creating Change

At Moana Impact Studio, we honour where we come from and who we serve.

Grounded in Pacific values and shaped by decades of experience, we exist to create space for transformative, culturally grounded change. Our work is led by community, guided by purpose, and built on the belief that Indigenous and Pacific knowledges are essential to designing more just systems.

Learn more about our story, our people, and how we work.

Moana Impact Studio was born out of a deep commitment to Pacific people, places, and possibilities.


We are a purpose-driven organisation that champions culturally grounded practice, ethical leadership, and systems change that centres Indigenous and Pacific knowledges.

Founded by Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei, a Samoan leader in education equity, Pacific advocacy, and systems transformation, and Brownwyn Williams, a Niuean-Cook Islands educator and changemaker with deep expertise in community engagement. Moana Impact Studio draws on two decades of experience across the education sector, government, philanthropy, and grassroots communities.

At its heart, Moana Impact Studio is a bridge.
A bridge between systems and cultures.
Between institutions and communities.
Between aspiration and action.

We established to support universities, schools, public and private sector organisations, and non-profits to better understand, engage with, and design culturally responsive research, outreach, and leadership initiatives for Pacific communities . Our approach is not only informed by lived experience and community knowledge, but also shaped by evidence, integrity, and deep relationships.

We believe that meaningful change must be co-designed, relational, and grounded in culture.

Moana Impact Studio exists to help make that possible.

Our Story

Our Team

Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei
Bronwyn Williams

  • Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei, Founder & Principal Consultant.

    Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei is an education expert with extensive experience in designing and delivering strategies that strengthen Indigenous and equity participation in higher education. In 2025, she led the design and delivery of initiatives within the UTS Indigenous Outreach Strategy and, for more than a decade, has shaped several university-wide programs that advance educational access and success for underrepresented students. Her work focuses on illuminating, deconstructing, and countering systemic injustices in education to foster student access, retention, and success.

    Amanda is a Founding Director of the Australian Pasifika Educators Network (APEN), a national network advocating for culturally sustaining policy and practice in education. She also serves as the Executive Lead, Pacific for Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Association (EPHEA), where she established the Te Moana Reference Group - a collective of Pacific equity practitioners and academics supporting EPHEA’s work through a Pacific lens.

    Amanda is a proud Samoan woman with ancestral ties to the villages of Lepea, Saleufi, Siumu, Faga, and Fagamalo. She holds the Chiefly Title 'Tofa' bestowed in 2023 from Saipipi, Savaii. She brings two decades of leadership experience in equity and inclusion and is deeply committed to culturally responsive practice, racial justice, and the transformative power of education.

  • Brownywn Williams, Founder & Principal Consultant.

    Bronwyn Williams is a proud Niuean and Cook Islands woman, born in Aotearoa and based in Western Sydney. With over 14 years’ experience in higher education across New Zealand and Australia, she brings deep expertise in widening participation, community engagement, and program design that centres equity and access for underrepresented students.

    Currently a Senior Project Officer at Western Sydney University, Bronwyn has led major outreach and transition initiatives, including Fast Forward, First Foot Forward, Refugee and New and Emerging Communities, and the nationally recognised Pasifika Achievement To Higher Education (PATHE) program. She is also a Founding Director of the Australian Pasifika Educators Network (APEN), where she co-leads national advocacy and professional development for Pasifika educators and students.

    Bronwyn is passionate about creating culturally safe, strengths-based spaces that inspire Pacific young people to thrive in education and life. As Principal Consultant at Moana Impact Studio, she brings strategic insight, facilitation expertise, and a deep commitment to impact-driven work grounded in culture and community.

    She holds a BA, MA (Hons), and MLit from the University of Auckland, and is currently completing a PhD in Education at Western Sydney University.

  • Amanda’s research interests centre on Pacific, Pasifika, and First Nations peoples, student success, equity in higher education, and culturally responsive and sustaining practice. She is particularly focused on understanding and addressing the structural barriers facing Indigenous and Pacific learners in accessing and succeeding in university, and amplifying community-driven narratives of aspiration, resilience, and transformation.

    Her work is grounded in anti-racist, decolonial, and community-engaged approaches, with a strong commitment to Indigenous and Pacific research methodologies. Amanda is passionate about writing and reshaping the narrative landscape for underrepresented communities in Australian education.

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    PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS

    Lederman, O., Moors-Mailei, A., Peacock, Y., McKeon, G., Llana, A., Burns, D., Rosenbaum, S., & Caperchione, C. M. (2025). Developing a co-designed, culturally responsive physical activity program for Pasifika communities in Western Sydney, Australia. Health Promotion International. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daae197

    Barber, T., Netherton, C., Bettles, A., & Moors-Mailei, A. (2015). Navigating VET to university: Students’ perceptions of their transition to university study. Student Success, 6(2), 33–41. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v6i2.289

    REPORTS

    Pasifika Communities in Australia: 2021 Census(2023)
    https://doi.org/10.26183/9QBB-CY24
    Contributors: Gabriella Gerace, Rhonda Itaoui, Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei, Bronwyn Williams, Paniani Patu, Vaoiva Natapu-Ponton

    RESEARCH GRANTS & FUNDED PROJECTS

    What We Don’t Know, Will Hurt Us – An Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk Among Pasifika Communities in Western Sydney (Apr 2025 – Sep 2026)
    Funder: UTS Collaboration Seed Grant
    Lead: Oscar Lederman | Co-investigator: Tasi Tevaga A, Goode E, Moors-Mailei A, Peacock, Y.
    A health equity project evaluating cardiovascular risks and community-led prevention strategies for Pasifika communities.

    Say Our Names (Mar 2024 – Dec 2024)
    Funder: UTS Strategic Collaboration Seed Funding
    Lead: Dr Zozan Balci | Co-investigator: Dr Elaine Laforteza, Amanda Moors-Mailei, Lucia Bautista, Rodrigo Perez Toledo.

    WORKSHOPS

    Moors-Mailei. A, Williams. B, Patu. P. Natapu-Ponto. V (2025). Balancing Worlds – Navigating Pacific Wellbeing and Cultural Integrity within Australian, Higher Education, Access & Geopolitics, University of Oxford.

    Moors-Mailei, A., Williams, B., & Patu, P. (2025). Reimagining support for Pacific education: Examining the Australian Universities Accord and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) frameworks [Workshop presentation]. Australian Association for Pacific Studies Conference 2025: Pacific Discourses and Destinies, University of Sydney, Australia.

    Moors-Mailei, A. (2022). Pasifika Folauga (journey): Re-imagining and designing a Collective Action Plan for Pasifika education, learners and community in Australia. Presentation at the Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia (EPHEA) Conference.

    NEWS ARTICLES

    Moors-Mailei, A. (2020). It’s not enough to be ‘not-racist’.Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion Newsroom, UTS.

    Moors-Mailei, A. (2019). Equal access to higher education for refugee students. Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion Newsroom, UTS.

    FORTHCOMING

    Moors-Mailei., Williams, B., Natapu-Ponton, V., & Patu, P (2026, in-process). Balancing Worlds - Navigating Pacific Wellbeing and Cultural Integrity within Australian Higher Education, in Faleolo, R., Enari, D., 'Ilaiu Talei, C., & Manuela, S (Eds.) Pacific Paradigms and Wellbeing Practices in Australia. Springer Nature

    Moors-Mailei, A., Williams, B., & Natapu-Ponton, V. (2026, in-process). Reimagining evaluation to centre Indigenous Pacific epistemologies in the pursuit of educational justice. Access: Critical Explorations of Equity in Higher Education.

  • Amanda and Bronwyn are united by a deep commitment to educational justice and a shared belief in the power of culturally grounded, community-led change.

    Amanda’s work is driven by her passion for creating equitable and sustaining pathways for Indigenous and Pacific learners, ensuring their voices are seen, heard, and valued within the higher education system. In 2017, she designed the UTS Humanitarian Scholarship Program, growing it from just two students to over 100 on full tuition scholarships. The program is now recognised as a national model for refugee and humanitarian access and success in higher education.

    Amanda also led the establishment of UTS Pacific Programs and Initiatives from co-founding the first UTS Pasifika Society in 2013 to laying the groundwork for more than 50 Pacific students to commence undergraduate study in 2026 through the U@Uni Academy. These co-designed campus and community-based programs have positioned UTS as a university of choice for Pacific learners and families. She now leads the development of a whole-of-university UTS Pacific Strategy to deepen engagement with Pacific communities across Australia and the region.

    Bronwyn brings over 14 years of experience in higher education, with a focus on access, widening participation, and culturally responsive outreach. As a long-time leader at Western Sydney University, she has designed and delivered some of the institution’s most impactful student equity programs. These include Fast Forward, First Foot Forward, and the Pasifika Achievement To Higher Education (PATHE) program, one of the first initiatives of its kind in the country to focus specifically on Pacific student success.

    Through PATHE, Bronwyn has built strong relationships with students, families, and community organisations, transforming aspirations into action. Her leadership has not only shaped equity strategy at WSU but has also led to the founding of the Australian Universities Pasifika Associations Conference (AUPAC) in 2018, a national platform for Pacific student voice and leadership.

    Together, Amanda and Bronwyn are the Co-Founders of the Australian Pasifika Educators Network (APEN), where they co-lead national advocacy and professional learning for educators and leaders across the sector. Their work, spanning schools, universities, community, and policy, is rooted in cultural knowledge, lived experience, and a belief in the collective power of Pacific people to shape systems that reflect and uplift who they are.

    Highlights

    • Co-Founders of the Australian Pasifika Educators Network (APEN)

    • Cultural Competency Workshops for schools and institutions

    • Strategic Leads in Indigenous and Pacific student outreach and engagement

    • Designers of national and regional equity and access initiatives

    • Public speakers and panellists on equity, race, education, leadership, and cultural change

Thinking about working with us?
Check out our FAQ page for answers to common questions about our approach, pricing, and ways we can collaborate.

“Solesolevaki sa itakele ni duavata.”

Solidarity is the cornerstone of unity.

- Fijian Proverb -